Out of control

President Trump and the System are increasingly out of control (source)

The international order is in a dire state: Tensions can no longer be effectively regulated and issues have become increasingly entangled.

In my research I explain how such a dire state typically precedes a systemic re-ordering of the System (international order).

Until now, we – humanity – have not been able to accomplish an ‘upgrade’ of the order – to ensure better balancing – without resorting to systemic war.

The dire state of the System is now also manifest in the American (non-)response to a chemical attack by the Assad-regime in Syria, last week.

Not only has the United States a highly dysfunctional commander in chief – president Trump (he also is a product of the state of the international order) – the US also lacks a (sound) Syria strategy that is an integral part of an overall grand strategy.

We – the System – have now reached a stage when sound strategies can no longer be formulated, let alone executed: All military action now only contributes to more tensions, more issues and increases their (regional and global) entanglement.

Through this self-reinforcing mechanism, the System is pushed into a critical condition, when only a small incident is sufficient to cause a systemic response.

Syria – but also North-Korea – have become a battleground for Great Power rivalries: Syria is about rivalries between the US and Russia; North-Korea is about rivalries between the US and China. Iran – the nuclear deal with Iran – is now connected to a nuclear deal (?) with North Korea.

The System – starting with the US ‘strategies’ and ‘policies’ – will collapse under the weight of its own contradictions.